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Monday, June 16, 2014

DIY Agate and Mexican Blanket Painted Frames

I love crafting and making things with Chuck. But sometimes, I also like to sneak away and paint things by myself. So at night while he sleeps, I pull out random things and paint them. Today's post is about one of those nights... and one of those secret painting sessions. You see, I originally purchased 2 frames for Chuck to paint as gifts... (like he painted this frame here). But then I couldn't resist their siren call and ended up painting them myself. The designs were inspired by my love for colorful Mexican blankets and this super easy DIY Agate Watercolor Artwork.

DIY Agate and Mexican Blanket Inspired Painted Frames

Materials Needed

DIY Painted "Agate" Frame

Rocks and minerals seem to be super trendy right now... and I'm ok with that because I just love the way they look and feel. Here's my attempt at recreating an "agate" design....

1. Sand the frame. (Make sure you keep the insert so you know how large to trim your photo.)
2. Look at a photo of a real piece of agate to see how you want to paint your frame.
3. Pour out your colors and apply them with a very wet brush. (You want the colors to bleed a little and blend with each other. This will give the frame a more realistic look.)
4. Add a bit of gold paint to make your design pop.
5. Coat your frame with Mod Podge to protect your paint job. (I used matte, but I think it would have looked better and more agate-like with the gloss formula.)

Here's what my painting looked like up-close:

Painted "Mexican Blanket" Frame

Once again I'm going to have to mention again how much I love Mexican blankets. I love, love, love, love them because they're
colorful, happy, and fun. So that's why I had to paint a frame to look
like one.

1. Sand the frame. (Make sure you keep the insert so you know how large to trim your photo.)
2. Look at a photo of a real Mexican blanket to see how you want to paint your frame.
3.
Pour out your colors and just go for it. (I free handed everything, so my lines are wavy and not straight. But it doesn't matter one bit because the colors just pop and sing. La laaaaaa!)
4. Coat your frame with Mod Podge to protect your paint job.

Here's what the painting looked like up-close:

I love how both of these frames turned out. I'm allllmost tempted to keep them for myself, but I think their new owners will love them too.